Wheel of Fortune timeline (syndicated)/Season 36
Go back to Season 35? A timeline for Season 36 of Wheel of Fortune, which aired in first-run from September 10, 2018 through June 7, 2019. Season Changes *The studio intro from Season 34 is used. *When a contestant calls a letter, the letter appears in a light gray circle on the bottom left corner of the screen. A red slash appears through it if the letter is not in the puzzle or has been called already. *This is the first season since Season 34 not to have a Halloween week. September 2018 *September 10 is Teacher's Week, taped July 26. During this week, the opening graphic has pictures of Pat and Vanna in grade school added to two of the buildings. *On September 11, Classic TV is used for the first time since January 9, 2013. *On September 13: ** The Prize is a $10,200 trip to Spain. ** For the first known time, Headline is used in Round 4. *On September 14, six rounds are played. *September 17 is Gone Fishin', taped August 9. During this week, the Season 28 Outdoor Adventure Week intro is used, which features the Pat and Vanna Wii avatars fishing. * On September 17, Dr. Oz makes a cameo in the closing segment. Footage is shown of him, Pat, and Vanna demonstrating CPR techniques on dummies in front of the puzzle board 2009. * On September 18: ** Although the $3,000 Toss-Up is People, the category strip for Person is put up instead. Also, Pat's announcement of the category appears to have been corrected in post-production. ** Places makes only its third known appearance in the Bonus Round. * On September 19, the first sentence of the Mystery Round announcement is changed to "Did one of our Wheel Watchers just win $10,000?", while the onscreen text at this point now reads "Did you just win $10,000?" * On September 21: ** The Round 1 puzzle THERE'S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING has two spaces between TIME and FOR. ** Contestant Alexa, who does not solve her bonus puzzle, misses the $1,000,000 by only one envelope. * September 24 is California Coast, taped August 23. During this week, the Bonus Round is sponsored by the Netflix original series The Good Cop, a trailer of which is shown before the Bonus Round on Monday and Thursday. * On September 25, two males play. * On September 26, six rounds are played. * On September 27, the bonus puzzle ORGANIC KALE AND SPINACH ties the third-longest known bonus puzzle to be used on the show, and the longest under three-and-a-vowel rules, at 21 letters. * On September 28, Vanna wears a shirt and pants. * All ten Bonus Rounds are lost on the weeks of September 17 and 24. This is part of a four-week span beginning on September 17 where only three Bonus Rounds are won, and an eleven-loss streak running from September 17 to 27. October 2018 * October 1 is Shopping Spree, taped July 27, During this week, the opening graphic has videos of Pat and Vanna carrying shopping bags on two of the buildings. * On October 2: ** The Prize is $6,000 credit to ebates.com. ** The Retro Bonus Round is not done. * On October 3, no puzzles are done that fit the theme of the week. * During the week of October 1, for only the second time since their introduction, four Crossword Rounds are done in one week. * October 8 is Spa Getaway, taped August 24. During this week the season 28 World Class Spas Week intro is used where Pat and Vanna avatars entering a spa room. Pat draws a Smile face while Vanna draws a three row logo. * On October 8: ** A Crossword Round and Same Letter are used on the same night. ** The Prize Puzzle offers a $10,990 trip to Barbados. * On October 9: ** The Retro Bonus Round is one not previously used on this feature. ** The third-place contestant has $11,014. * On October 10: ** Rounds 1 and 2 are played entirely by the contestants who began them. ** The Prize Puzzle offers a $10,976 trip to Jamaica. ** Pat references a cut "null" cycle at the start of Round 4 by saying "There is, however, an S" despite no previous wrong letters airing. * October 15 is Great Outdoors Week, taped August 10. During this week, the opening animation is the Pat and Vanna avatars rowing a canoe, followed by a zoom onto the traditional logo on one of the canoe paddles. Unusually for an episode with a Wii avatar opening, Jim does the "From the Sony Pictures Studios, it's America's Game!" announcement over the animation. * On October 15: ** Contestant Jeffrey lands on Express on the first spin of Round 3 and fills in the entire puzzle BOUTIQUES & RESTAURANTS by himself. ** A "null" cycle is not edited out of the Speed-Up. * On October 16, a "null" cycle is not edited out of Round 1 (Lose A Turn, an incorrect V, and another Lose A Turn). * On October 17: ** The Round 4 puzzle SLY AS A FOX is an extremely rare instance of a puzzle shorter than 10 letters. ** The winning contestant has only $8,600 before the Bonus Round. * On October 19: ** Pat references a cut "null" cycle in Round 4 by saying "Nate, back to you" on his first aired turn. ** Round 4 is a non-sequitur answer of KANGAROO AND CARIBOU. ** In the final segment, Pat and Vanna show three clips: the previous day's winning contestant being jumped on by his wife after winning the Bonus Round, a similar reaction from the winning contestant on October 8, 1998, and then that same episode's closing chat, in which Pat says "16 years on the show, and you've never jumped on me like that" and Vanna replies "Well, you've never given me a car." * October 22 is Veterans Week, taped September 26. During this week, after the Bonus Round, Jim announces that all of the week's contestants will receive a package of products that have been promoted on Shark Tank. * On October 22 ** Two males play. ** A “null” cycle is not edited out of Round 2 (Bankrupt, a Bankrupt with no money or cardboard, and a Lose A Turn) **There is a rare instance of a contestant solving the Speed-Up without any money.